Commercial & Personal Level Pricing on Sturmgewehr.com

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Sturmgewehr.com is now transitioning to a pay to post advertising site for commercial level users. This has been a long time coming, after remaining a completely free site for almost 17 years. Hopefully you have adjusted to, and now enjoy the new format features that were put in place beginning on 1/8/16. We are now prepared to begin the next phase of the new Sturm, beginning with commercial level members. If you have an FFL above C&R level, or operate a business selling firearm related parts, you are considered a commercial user. We will transition non-commercial members at a later date.

In the past, we have relied on t-shirt sales, and other promotional items to attempt to offset some of the costs associated with the site, and have personally made up the difference out of pocket. Since 2004, when we had to transition to a dedicated server and ISP host to accommodate the bandwidth of the site, this has amounted to tens of thousands of dollars. We've received some donations from users of this site in the past, and many donations from the extremely supportive members of our sister board, Machinegunboards.com. We’re quite grateful for all support sent our way over the years. Our intent with transitioning to a pay to post format is to offset all costs, and hopefully recover some past deficits. We don't intend to gouge anyone...You will see that the subscription rates are reasonable, and they are necessary to maintain and upgrade the site going forward. You can choose your level of support for Sturm by the rank level you choose, which is accompanied by the ability to post a certain number of advertisements on the market board. The cost per advertisement is low, when divided by the total cost of the rank, and considerably more cost effective than on auction sites. You may also choose a higher rank to help support the site, even if you don’t intend to use the associated number of market board ads. Again, your support is very much appreciated.

FYI, all commercial level ranks include the ability to post images directly through the website. References to Gallery images are for the Gallery section, which is a tab at the top of the page for sharing collection photos.

Ranks can be purchased using PayPal through the link above, including the use of credit cards through PayPal.

Rank of Captain - 1 Year Subscription as Captain - $25

·Allows for commercial level posting of up to 5 ads a year, plus 5 gallery images - Users have the same privileges that have Sergeants in other respects - This is the equivalent of a National Guard commission, and is designed for the dealer who only needs a few ads a year

Rank of Major - 1 Year Subscription as Major - $35

·Allows for commercial level posting of up to 10 ads a year, plus 15 gallery images. Users have the same privileges that Sergeants have in other respects

Rank of Lt. Colonel - 1 Year Subscription as Lt. Colonel - $45

·Allows for commercial level posting of up to 15 ads a year, 20 gallery images, custom avatar, and 556 IMs

The 5-star Admiral ranks are limited to only 5 members for 2016, and are all spoken for. They include a banner ad, and their pricing is market based. We will not have any new spots until next year, and will announce availability later in 2016.

Sturmgewehr.com is a very effective selling tool, with an audience mostly focused on NFA items. We hope you are able to interact and profit in a friendly environment where we look out for one another, and share in our hobby and collector interests.

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Sturmgewehr.com is transitioning to a pay to post advertising site. This has been a long time coming, after remaining a completely free site for almost 17 years. Hopefully you have adjusted to, and now enjoy the new format features that were put in place beginning on 1/8/16. We began the next phase of the new Sturm with commercial level members at the beginning of April, and are now prepared to continue with non-commercial (personal) subscriptions.

In the past, we have relied on t-shirt sales, and other promotional items to attempt to offset some of the costs associated with the site, and have personally made up the difference out of pocket. Since 2004, when we had to transition to a dedicated server and ISP host to accommodate the bandwidth of the site, this has amounted to many tens of thousands of dollars. We've received some donations from users of this site in the past, and many donations from the extremely supportive members of our sister board, Machinegunboards.com. We’re quite grateful for all support sent our way over the years.

Our intent with transitioning to a pay to post format is to offset all costs, and hopefully recover some past deficits. We don't intend to gouge anyone...Non-commercial subscription rates are about what you’d pay for a normal box of .45 ammo, or maybe a mag dump or two out of your favorite MG. You will see that the subscription rates are very reasonable, and they are necessary to maintain and upgrade the site going forward. As a personal site subscriber, you have two rank choices…Sergeant, or Lieutenant. Sergeant is $15/year, and Lieutenant is $20/year. The main difference is the ability to directly host images on the site, versus remotely hosting images. Both personal subscription ranks allow you to post as many ads as needed (within the site guidelines). Please keep in mind that a personal subscription is appropriate for a hobbyist, or someone who is liquidating their personal collection, but is notappropriate for anyone who sells the same item in large quantities, operates under a business name, is selling for profit, or has an FFL other than C&R.

One note about the rank of Corporal…If you have a Corporal rank currently, it means that you were an existing member of Machinegunboards.com when we uploaded the member database to the new Sturmgewehr.com format on 1/2/16. As such, you can post non-commercial ads for a year (until 1/8/17) before you will need to upgrade your account. As a Corporal, you have the same posting abilities as a Sergeant. You may still feel free to upgrade your account now, if you wish.

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At least now everyone will have to pay something to post instead of just a few that financially supported the site thru donations. I figure it'll be cheaper for myself getting a subscription vs the amount of donations I had made in the past even though I only post a few each year.